Bottle-filling machine.



Nu. 7l4,743.

Patented Dec. 2, I902. J. RAMSEY.

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 15, 1902.) (No Model.)

2 sheefs- -Sheel I.

. ,2-0 J31 15172.. Jc If I 21 f Nu. mp4s. Patented Dec. 2, 1902;

J. RAMSEY.

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE.

[Application filed Jan. 1-5, 1902.) (No Mbdel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet '2.

'lllll Witnesses: 171M 72 Z02") a /ggm UNITED STATES BOTTLE-FILLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,743, dated December 2, 1902.

Application filed January 15,1902. Serial No. 89,853. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN RAMSEY, of New.

York, in the county and State of New York, have made certain new and useful Improve.

ments in Bottle-Filling Machines, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section,

showing my improved bottledilling apparatus; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse section of the same on line 2 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a like view online 3 3 in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a sectional View showing the cock in its normal position, Fig.5, an enlarged section similar to that in Fig. 3, showing a device for stoppering the bottle, and Fig. 6 a sectional view of the bottleneck stoppered and removed from the apparatus.

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates especially to an apparatus for filling bottles with beer, soda-water, or similar fermented or aerated liquids; and it consists in certain novel details hereinafter particularly described,the object being to produce a device wherein the difficulties incident to the expulsion of air from the bottles and other objections common in machines of this pansion or air tank B. Tapping thepipe A below this tank there is a nipple z, and held against. the mouth of said nipple in alinement by a sleeve 7) therewith there isa tube D. Inclosing this tube D is a horizontal pipe 0,

'into which also the beer rises.

materially greater in diameter than said tube. The pipe is held in sleeve 17, and the outer ends of both tube and pipe are closed bycap a. An air-tube d connects the top of the expansionchamber 13 with the pipe 0. At intervals on said pipe G are arranged a series of cocks 1-1. These cocks consist of two members f g, provided with screw-lugs 15, whereby they are held together, encircling said pipe in an annular groove 16, Fig. 1, in which they may be reciprocated by the operator. Passing vertically and centrally through the cock member there is a filler-tube 19, Fig. 2, which is in position to be registered with a port g, which opens from inner horizontal tube D through the inclosing pipe 0 and across the air-space formed between said tube and pipe, as shown in Fig. 1. In the body of the same cock member, at one side of the filler-tube 10, there is formed an air-pipe 8, its mouth at the inner end (see Fig. 3) being arranged to be registered with an air-port r in the wall of the inclosing pipe 0, but normally shut from said port, as in Fig. 4. This air-pipes is continued through the solid body of the member g,thence upward through a supporting-lug h, where it is bent into a loop t, Fig. 3, and passes: downward through said lug and a companion lug it back into the body of the member g, into alinement with its inner portion 8, and opening downward at as beside the filler-tube 13. Around the neck of this air-pipe is disposed a rubber stopple y.

Formed transversely in the cock member 9 there is an air-port w, Fig. 3, which taps the loop t and is in position to register with an air-port 'v in the pipe 0.

In the lugs it his a bar 20, on which is fitted to slide connected collars 21. The lower one of these collarsbears a bottle stand or holder m. A bell-crank leverj is pivoted to swing on the lower lug h, and its short arm is pivotally connected by a bar It withthe lower collar 21. A tension-coiled spring 22 connects this collar with the lower lug h.

In the use of my invention as thus far described, the parts being in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4 and beer being admitted to the supply A, the air is forced into tank 13, The beer also flows into and fills inner tube D, and the air under pressure is driven through pipe 61 into the space inclosed by pipe 0. A bottle is now inserted over the filler-tube p, with its mouth engaging the stopple y and its base resting on the holder m, the cock I-I being in the position shown in Fig. 4:. Now the cock is swung rearwardly on its bearing on the pipe 0, or from left to right as viewed in Fig. 4. Immediately air-tube S registers with airport r in the inclosing pipe 0, and the air or gas contained in said pipe is driven into the bottle. This is an essential function, as without this air the liquorcannot be subsequently inserted. This swinging movement of the cock continuing, the liquid-port q next registers with the filler-tube p and the beer contained in inner tube D begins to flow into the bottle. Simultaneously it will be understood that the air-portu in the inclosin g tube 0 registers with port to, Fig. 3, and the air in the bottle displaced by the liquor escapes or is driven through mouth 00 and loop t back into said inclosing tube 0. Loop 15 being thrown upward by this back movement of the cock, its upper end is above the normal liquid-level in the expansion-tank B. The liquid in this bottle also rises through said air-tube into onethe outerarm of the loop t until it is at the same level as the liquid in said tank. The pressure both of air and liquid is by this means equalized. The liquid flows by gravity into the bottle and all foaming or churning is avoided. Moreover, the bottle may be by this means completely filled,there being no back pressure of gas to prevent this, and there is no overflow or waste of liquor. The operator now reciprocates the cook. The valves or ports are closed consecutively in the reverse of the order described. When the air-port 'u is thus closed, the vacuum formed holds what liquid may be in the loop t, the supply from the inner tube d is shut off, and the bottle may be removed. In this reverse movement of the cock the long arm of the bell-crank may be engaged by anysuitable means, thus throwingits short arm and the connecting-rod into alinement and expanding spring 22, so that the bottle may be readily removed and another substituted.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 I exploit a device whereby the bottle P is stoppered as it is withdrawn from the filler. In this form the lower portion of the filler-tube p is enlarged or thickened at 19 and its lower end is closed, ports 53 opening laterally therein to discharge into the bottle. This closed lower end is countersunk to receive a plug 54. This plug is T-shaped in section, as shown, and is held detachably in the end of said tube by the insertion of its shank in said countersink. Above this thickened portion p a sleeve 50 incloses the filler-tube and is held in the cock-casting g, being so arranged as to leave an air-space between said filler and the sleeve. Into the upper end of this sleeve the discharge a: of the arm of the loop 25 opens.

The upper end of the thickened portion 19 of the filler-tube is beveled where the lower end of the sleeve meets it and forms an airport 57 for the discharge of air into the bottle in identically the same manner as described for the first form. The stopple y of the first form is done away with in this, and the bottle P is provided with a rubber stopple 51, held and attached and operated by the wire eccentric 55, a form common in the trade, its operation being so well known that it is not essential to herein particularly describe or show the same. The stopple 51, however, in my device has an annular groove 56 in its head, into which the wire of the clamp engages. Said stopple is perforated centrally and longitudinallyto admit the filler-tube and sleeve. At the inner end of said central perforation an annular rabbet 52 is formed in the stopple of size to receive the head of the plug 54. In the use of this form the bottle-holding device is done away with. The plug 54 being removed from the filler-tube the cork 51 of an empty bottle hanging suspended from the loosened clamp 55 is forced onto the thickened portion 10 of said filler. A plug 54 is then inserted in its countersunk end. The stopple 51 is then inserted into the bottle-mouth and locked by the clamp 55 in the usual manner. The bottle is then pushed upward in the filler-tube until the stopple 51 slips tightly onto the sleeve 50 above the airport 57. The operation of admitting the liquor to the bottle is now precisely the same as in the first form, and the action of the air is the same also. When the bottle is thus filled, it is withdrawn from the filler-tube, which slips through the stopple until the plughead 54 engages in the rabbet 52 of the stopple, and its shank is projected into and left in the central perforation of said stopple, which immediately contracts around it as the filler-tube is disengaged. The contraction of the stopple on the plug would hold it in position even if the pressure of gas on the plughead-did not also effect this result. It will be seen, therefore, that the bottle is efiectually and automatically stoppered without permitting any escape of gas as it is withdrawn from the filler-tube, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 6.

It will be understood that the stopple 51 may be employed detached from the bottle, as was the stopple y, and a form of clamp 55 employed, which would grasp and retain said stopple attached to the bottle when removed from the filler.

The salient feature of my invention will thus be seen to involve the admission of air or gas into the bottle at the supply-pressure, the admission of the liquid under gravity, the escape of the gas from the bottle back to its source, permitting the liquid to find its level in connection with bottle and tank, the admission of the liquid to the bottle through an aperture in its detachable or adjustable stopple, and the automatic closing of said aperture as the bottle is withdrawn from the filler.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is 1. In a bottle-filling machine, the combination with the supply-pipe in communication with an expansion or air tank, a tube in communication with the supply-pipe, a liquidport in said tube, a pipe inclosing said tube and in communication with the expansion or air tank,-and a port r in said inclosing pipe, of a cock mounted for swinging movement on the inclosing pipe, a filling-tube carried by the cock adapted to register with said liquidport, and an air-passage in the cock adapted to register with the port 1", substantially as described.

2. In abottle-filling machine, a supply-pipe in communication with an air or expansion tank, a supply-tube in communication with the supply-pipe, a liquid-port in said supplypipe, an inclosing pipe for said supply-tube, in communication with said expansion-tan k, portsin said inclosin g pipe, anda cock mounted for swinging movement on said inclosing pipe and provided with a filling-passage and an air-passage, said cock adapted to consecutively admit air from said inclosing pipe to the bottle, admit liquid from the supply-tube to the bottle, and simultaneously permit the air to escape from said bottle and be returned to the inclosing pipe.

3. Inabottling-machine,asupply-pipeconnected to an expansion-chamber, a tube tapping said pipe, a pipeinclosing said tube and of sufficient diameter to form a space around the tube, an air-pipe connecting said space with the expansion-chamber, ports in said tube and inclosing pipe, and a rotary cock having a filling-port and an air-passage adapted to register with the respective ports in the pipe and inclosing tube and discharge air from said inclosing pipe into the bottle, discharge liquid from the tube into the bottle and return the air displaced by the liquid in the bottle to the inclosing pipe.

4. In a bottling-machine, a supply-pipe in communication with an expansion-tank, a tubetapping the supply-pipe, and a pipe inclosing the said tube with a space between the inclosing pipe and the tube which is in communication with the expansion-tank, said tube and pipe provided with ports in combination with a cock arrangedon the inclosing pipe, a filling-tube and an air-tube carried by said cock and adapted to register respectively with the ports in the'tube and inclosing pipe to admit liquid from the tube to the bottle and permit it to automatically attain the normal liquid-level in the tank.

5. In a bottling-machine, a rotary cock car- 'rying a filler-tube, and an air-tube, combined with a tube tapped in the supply and having a port to register with the filling-tube, an airinclosing pipe on which the cock ismounted,

said inclosing pipe forming an air space around the tube and having a port to register with the air-tube in the cook, the said filling-tube and air-tube being so arranged as to consecutively admit air and liquid from the supply into the bottle and discharge the air back to the supply.

6. In a bottling-machine, a cock II, a filling-tube 19 carried thereby,an air-tube a carried by the cock and having the loop t extending above the supply, a supply-tube D, an inclosing pipe in communication with a pressure-tank, and ports in the supply-tube and inclosing pipe for establishing communication with the filling-tube and air-tube, substantially as described. a

7. In a bottling-machine, the supply-pipe A, the expansion-tank B in communication therewith, the supply-tube D communicating with the supply-pipe A, the inclosing pipe 0 forming an air-space around the tube D, the pipe at establishing communication between said space and the expansion-tank, ports in the supply-tube and inclosing. pipe, in combination with the cock I-I fitted to rotate on the pipe C, and a filler-tube and anair-tube carried by the cock adapted on rotation of the latter to register respectively with the ports in the supply-tube and inclosing pipe, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a bottling-machine, a supply-pipe, an expansion-tank in communication with said supply-pipe, a supply-tube in communication with the supply-pipe, a port in said tube, an inclosing pipe forming an air-space around the supply-tube which is in communication with the expansion-tank, a port in said inclosing pipe, a cock rotatably mounted on the inclosing pipe, and a filling-tube and an air-tube carried by said cock to register with the ports in the supply-tube and inclosing pipe to consecutively admit air and liquid to the bottle and discharge the air displaced by the liquid in the bottle back to the supply.

9. Ina bottling-machine, the combination with the supply-pipe, and the expansion-tank in communication with the pipe, of a tube in communication with the supply-pipe, an inclosing pipe forming an air-space around the tube, a pipe (1 connecting said space with the ex pansion-tank, ports in said tube and inclosing pipe, and a swinging cock having a filling-tube and an air-tube adaptedto register respectively with the ports inthe su pply-tube and inclosingpipe, substantially as described.

10. In combination, the pipe 0, provided with ports 0, o, inclosed tube D provided with port q, the cock H having filler-tube 19 and air-tube 3 adapted to register with the ports q, 7', said tube 5 provided with loop 15, and a port to in said cock to establish communication between port 4; and loop tot the air-tube, arranged as specified.

11. In a bottling-machine, a supply-tube having a port, a cock mounted for rotation and a filling-tube carried by the cock and adapted to register with the port in the supply-tube, in combination with a stopple, means for admitting gas to the bottle through the stopple thereof, and means carried by the filler-tube for engagement in the stopple to seal the bottle as the filler-tube is withdrawn.

12. In a bottling-machine, the combination with the supply-tube, theinclosing pipe forming a space around the tube, ports in said tube and pipe, an expansion-tank in communication with the supply-tube, and a pipe establishing communication between the airspace and the expansion-tank, of the cock having a filling-tube and an air-tube consecutively registering on the turning of the cock with said ports. v

13. In a bottling-machine, a rotatable cock, afilling-tube carried thereby, and a plug detachably held in the outer end of said fillingtube, in combination with an apertured stopple adapted to receive the filling-tube, and to be engaged by and retain said plug to seal the bottle on the withdrawal of the filling-tube.

14. In a bottling-machine, arotatable cook, a filling-tube carried thereby and provided with the socketed outer end, in combination with a centrally-apertured stopple adapted to receive the filling-tube and having an annular recess in its lower end, and a plug detachably held in the lower end of said filling-tube and adapted on the withdrawal of the tube to engage the aperture and recess in the stop ple to seal the bottle.

15. The combination with the rotatable filling-tube provided with the socketed outer end, and the plug detachably held in said end, of the centrally-perforated stopple provided at its inner end with a rabbet adapted to receive the head of the plug and seal the opening in the stopper when the filling-tube is removed.

16. The rotatable cock comprising two members clamped together, the filling-tube carried by the cock and having the enlarged lower portion provided with ports, in combination with the sleeve surrounding a portion of the tube with an air-space therebetween, a port in said sleeve, and an air-tube in communication with said port.

17. In a bottling-machine, the filler-tube, a liquid-port cooperating therewith and means for admitting air to the bottle, in combination with a stopple having an aperture for the reception of the filling-tube, means for securing said stopple in the bottle-neck, and means carried by the filler-tube for closing the tube-aperture in the stopple as the filler-' tube is removed.

JOHN RAMSEY. Witnesses:

O. M. SHAW, O. M. WILBUR. 

